How Kids Fare In Nontraditional Families?

Children in nontraditional two-parent families — such as step families or when the biological mother is living with a boyfriend — get roughly the same amount of parental involvement as children living with both biological parents in a so-called traditional family, according to research presented at a recent meeting of the American Sociological Association.

This finding bodes well for the many children in the United States living in nontraditional families, according to study author Hiromi Ono, PhD, who cites previous research that links low parental involvement to behavior problems in children.

Children have the same amount of time with their biological mothers, regardless of the type of father figure in the household, according to the study.

Children spend about five hours more per week with their mothers than with the male parental figure, whether he is the biological father or not.

The study included about 1,500 children aged 6-12 (average age 9) living with their biological mothers, who were either married or cohabiting.

Ono, who does not look at single parents in the study, reports no significant difference in time spent with remarried biological fathers, cohabiting biological fathers, or cohabiting stepfathers compared to first-married biological fathers.